May 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS

SocialEast Seminar on Foreign Experience in Post-89 Art

Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art Budapest
7 May 2009

This seminar asks what attracted foreign artists and curators to the
capitals of Central and Eastern Europe in the wake of the political
changes of 1989 and what is their contribution to national art
discourses and the idea of post-national contemporary art. What drew
artists to cities such as Ljubljana, Budapest, Prague or Vilnius, and
how did they participate in making the national art scenes more open and
international. How far have foreign artists been recognised and included
in the art worlds of Central Europe, in terms of art criticism, access
to resources, such as grants, competitions and exhibition spaces, and
institutional attitudes, is there any comparison to the post-colonial
revision of dominant Western canons? Are we moving from a model of
national artistic identities to a post-national understanding of
contemporary art? What parallels can be drawn with the experience of
(political) exiles returning home and with the reconnection of national
minorities and disapora after the fall of communism? Furthermore, it
considers the influence of foreign ideas, theories and practices on
Central European art since the changes, and vice versa - what Eastern
European values and strategies have been adopted in today's
international art world? The SocialEast Seminar on Foreign Experience in
art since 1989 also considers the parallel experience of East European
artists and curators living as foreigners in non-native countries. What
are the reasons for Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg, former East Berlin
districts, becoming the headquarters of the international art world?
This Call for Papers is aimed at art historians, theorists, curators and
artists, who are encouraged to take an auto-ethnographic approach to the
foreign experience in post-1989 art.

To suggest a paper for the SocialEast Seminar on Foreign Experience in
Post-89 Art, please send a 200 word proposal and biographical note to
Dr. Reuben Fowkes by email to infosocialeast.org
<mailto:infosocialeast.org>

The deadline for submitting a proposal is Monday 30 March 2009.

For more information see www.socialeast.org <http://www.socialeast.org>